by A.J. Aaron
“You may fetter my leg, but Zeus himself cannot get the better of my free will.”
Epictetus
20
“Zoup?”
I thought I heard a soft voice whisper.
“Zoup Pán? You must eat something.”
I opened my eyes to see soft white shoes under white pants against a green tiled floor. My neck was stiff, and the hand under my head was asleep. I uncurled myself from the chair and sat up.
An angelic face smiled at me while holding a steaming bowl of chicken soup. “Eat. Must eat.”
I looked around. Tubes, white gauze wrappings, a beeping monitor.
“Is she okay?”
“Doctor say surgery went well. Need to stabilize now.”
I took the soup from her. “Děkuji.”
“Prosim.”
The smell of the homemade soup took me back to my childhood and reminded me of how good it was on a winter morning. Gray clouds outside may have been predicting snow here.
I ate the soup and watched Leyna. I had watched her every hour of every day for a week, except when I’d dozed off to sleep. She never changed.
A week after Leyna was admitted to the Na Homolce Hospital in Prague, she was still in a coma.
Sahasha was long gone, never to return. I was disgusted with myself that I’d used magic, and ended up in a body incapable of saving her when I needed to.
Alexander called me shortly after it happened and arranged for an ambulance to pick us up at the hospital once she stabilized from the surgery, and take us to an airport where a private jet could pick us up. He suggested I fly her myself using my abilities, but I’d already made a mess of things using them, so I insisted on using normal means. He also suggested I heal her myself, but just the thought was utterly ridiculous.
The hospital she had been taken to specialized in Neurology and Neurosurgery. They were quick to assess the damage and remove the bullet from her brain, but there had been no change in her condition for seven days.
A mature man in a long white coat with a picture ID hanging on a string and a clipboard in hand, entered the room. His soft blue eyes were in an empathetic, wrinkled face. He gave an acknowledging smile as he pulled a seat up to face me.
“Mister Decarain. We are releasing Leyna. She is stable now. The bullet hit her in a portion of the brain that isn’t of major concern, since it is doesn’t control bodily functions or cognition, however,” he said, “Sevilen, the injured area of Leyna’s brain may contain some memories that may be irretrievable. Her hippocampus is intact, and that is what controls the processing of memories. However, our memories of events are also made up of episodic elements of sight, smell, sound, taste, and so on. If a portion of a memory is destroyed, the entire memory may be destroyed as well. Since the bullet was relatively small and the depth of penetration was less than two centimeters, there’s a good chance she will be functional when she comes out of coma. The question will be what memories she may have lost.”
“What if she doesn’t come out of the coma? Could she die?”
“There is always a chance of death with brain injuries like these, but she is stable for now. I hope you have a safe journey home and I wish you well with her recovery. I wish there was more I could say or do. I can tell you love her very much.”
“Thank you, I appreciate all you’ve done for us.”
The private jet Alexander arranged was modified for Leyna’s medical transport. It once had a simple layout with a couch on each side and two reclining seats in the rear. One couch had been replaced with a floating sling and an IV hanger and bottle. Two attendants joined us to take care of Leyna on our journey. We refueled in Iceland and I slept until we landed at a local airstrip near home. Alexander was there to greet us.
“Welcome home, Lord Sevilen.” He gave me a hug.
“Good to see you, Alexander. Thanks for taking care of everything as usual.”
“My pleasure, sir. My only hope is to make things easier for you. Maybe soon you will allow me to do more.”
“What more could you possibly do?”
“I could convince you of your true nature somehow, and avoid you having to go through all of this. Nevertheless, that is your choice. We do not interfere with free will. It is against the rules.”
“Thanks for thinking I could be something I’m not, but you’re right, free will is what I’m exercising.”
“Yes, sir, you sure do have it in abundance. Come, the ambulance is ready for the ride home. I converted a room for her and outfitted it with the latest medical technology to keep her safe. A neurologist will visit her each day as well in case you don’t choose to heal her.”
“Heal her? How ridiculous. Thank you for taking care of everything. I did fall in love with her over there and I hope they can save her.”
Alexander saw my eyes well up with tears. He gave me a hug and spoke over my shoulder. “I do too, sir. I do, too. Someone must save Leyna or all our lives will be wasted.”
